Rudyard Kipling 
Plain Tales from the Hills 

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. Kipling’s works of fiction include The Jungle Book, Kim, and many short stories, including ’The Man Who Would Be King’. Plain Tales from the Hills is the first collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling. Out of its 40 stories, ’eight-and-twenty’, according to Kipling’s Preface, were initially published in the Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore, Punjab, British India between November 1886 and June 1887. The raciness of his narrative, the astute detail and insight and the humour and vitality of his characters all contribute to ensure these stories remain as varied and memorable as India herself.